benhall.1 wrote "Put simply: Whatever you do, you're not gonna hurt it. Whatever you do, you have a chance of affecting it."
I think this is a really poignant observation.
But for just a moment I want to take this conversation out of Trad. I want to use the Prelude to Bach Cello Suite No. 1. This is the first movement of the first of six cello suites that J.S. Bach wrote for unaccompanied cello. Whether you recognize it by its name or not - you have heard it. You Tube link below....
Every Cello player on the planet who has studied for longer than 9 months has learned this piece. So has nearly any string player, many classical guitarists and some wind players. I would estimate that 99.999999999999% of them learned it from the sheet music. They all *learned* it robotically at first (because it is written very robotically). Then as they became comfortable with the music, they made certain choices of musical expression. And as they grew as players they made new and different expressions. They also listened to others play the same piece, and play it differently. They emulate some of what they heard, or maybe they don't at all - but the piece is recognizable even with these choices.
We don't know how Bach himself would have expected it to be played. We can deduce from some bits of musicological study that he would certainly have expected some level of variation among those playing it. We don't know how the variations used today might compare with those used at the time of the creation of the piece. But IMHO it doesn't matter. Music is a living art. It is temporal and truly experienced in the moment. And even the same performer will make different choices in how to express themselves on each performance.
I chose this piece as my illustration for a couple of reasons. 1) it is from the baroque period - a time during which composition of music was expected to follow a litany of very strict rules about what was proper. 2) it is a very "straight" piece in terms of how it is written. The piece is nearly entirely constructed of running 16th notes with few rhythmic gaps or pauses - making expressive choice more obvious. 3) It comes from a "genre" of music that is considered by many to not leave much room for interpretation - and is dominated by written music - yet still there is truly much value to expression and... 4) Even light surfing of You Tube will provide LOTS of examples of how people play the piece.
All this is to say that none of what is being discussed here - IMHO - is entirely tied to ITM. This is a debate had by musicians in various forms in all manner of music.
If one learns to read music, they have one more (very useful) tool in the arsenal allowing them the opportunity to enjoy learning and playing music. If they employ ALL of the tools - reading, listening, experimenting, listening, performing, listening and listening - then they are best prepared to make the most of their experience and the experience of anyone listening to them.
Knowing how to read music does not cause one to play robotically. Playing robotically causes one to play robotically. Virtually all of the performers who play the cello suite mentioned have learned it from reading the music and play it with expression or robotically based on where they are in their study of their instrument, and where they are in their development as an artist - not based on the fact that they learned it from "the dots."
Here is Yo-Yo Ma playing it (widely considered a living master of the Cello)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JysJGTUA ... B5BC4FBDA2
And here is the first page of the piece:
http://www.8notes.com/scores/2792.asp?ftype=gif
You can hear right off the bat that Yo-Yo Ma slightly draws out the length of the first note of each measure. And even if you can only vaguely read music, you can see that it is not written that way. But it feels good, and feels right. I have heard him draw it out even longer at times. Some players will emulate, some others will not - and that is exactly the point.
Okay. I'm spent.
Learning to breathe with my elbows.....